Brit IT millionaire dies on Chinese mountain

A British millionaire who made his fortune supplying IT services to banks has died on the slopes of China's Mount Muztagata, the Telegraph reports.

Father-of-two Jonathan Peacock, 39, was on a "climb and ski" expedition to the 24,757ft peak in the country's mountainous west. Mount Muztagata is considered a relatively easy climb, with its "gentle slope" offering the possibility of making a descent on skis, as Peacock's party intended.

The group included team leader Arnold Coster, a Danish woman, and four British women. Coster explained they'd reached the first camp on 8 July, where "Mr Peacock already seemed unwell, but tried to continue".

He continued: "He had a hard time, but he recovered and went on to climb a little bit higher. The next day he came down to base camp again for a few days of rest. He was doing fine until suddenly he became chronically fatigued.

"Our first thoughts were that he had acquired altitude sickness, but his lungs and oxygen situation were fine. Somehow he was very weak. At this time we made the decision to send him back to Kashgar. In the morning, our team members checked in on him at 6.30 and found him unconscious in his tent. Jon did not respond to any attempts to revive him."

Chinese authorities in Kashgar said Peacock had suffered from a heart attack.

Peacock's wife Katharine, 39, expressed "shock" at his death, describing him as "very fit". She said: "I'm devastated for the loss of my husband and am so sorry that my children will not have the most wonderful father around them. Jon didn't take any chances. He didn't want to climb Everest as he thought it too dangerous. But he really wanted to snowboard down Muztagata."

Peacock made his pile with IT consultancy business Evolution, which he founded with three colleagues in 1996 and sold in 2005 for £9m. ®